Thursday, October 31, 2013

Perfect for Halloween combining both pumpkins and a candy crunch, this recipe I found on one of the first blogs I started reading Tales of a Monkey, a Bit, and a Bean. I pinned it over two years ago now, and I can't believe it's taken me this long to finally attempt it. But have to say, it was well worth the wait!

7. Let cool for 5 minutes on on baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

These have a very cake like consistency that's a bit surprising at first, but quickly grows on you. It's also more of a butterscotch taste with a hint of pumpkin, which I wasn't quite expecting either. But either way they were delicious, and don't plan on letting myself wait another 2 years to try them again!

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

After a long night on the dance floor, long after most everyone had taken off their shoes, our DJ announced our last song of the night, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey.

I believe his exact words were, "Here's something specific picked by the bride and groom because it has a special meaning to them." And while it was specific picked up me, it was done more because it was what I liked most on a list of last dance songs.

Funny enough, I spent the last dance with my MOH while my groom was in the back sitting down. Although it was fitting in a way, since I'd have the rest of my life with my husband, while my MOH and I are lucky if we see each other more than 2 times in a year.

But after almost 2 years of planning, our wedding was actually over, and my husband and I went off towards off our first night together as a married couple.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Paris was the Place by Susan Conley
Published: August 7, 2013 by Knopf
Have you ever felt like a book was published just for you? That's how I feel about this one. I'm going to try to do this novel justice, but I think anything I write will fall short of conveying just how this story spoke to me.

In Paris was the Place, we meet Willie who is living in Paris in her early 30s trying to figure out her place in life. She's trying to research a book she wants to write on an Indian poet, and is currently teaching girls who want to receive asylum to stay in France. She's dealing with her mother's death almost 2 years prior and rediscovering her relationship with the rest of her family without her mother. She's ready to fall in love. Part of the book is spent with her trying to figure out what to do when what your interpretation of the right thing to do isn't the same as others.

This novel takes place in the late 1980s, and while I don't think it's far enough back to qualify as historical fiction, you can't help but be transported to the time period. It's crazy in a way to think how much as changed in 25 years, to the point it's like a different world. One without cell phones or the internet. Or where there's pay phones on the street. It also mentions some of the big events of the 80s like the rise of AIDS and the protests at Tenement Square.

But not only does it feel like you're living in the 80s, you seem to walk through the street of both Paris and India at various points. Nothing like a novel that not only makes it feel like you're traveling the world, but also through time.

I'm not normally a quote person, but there's one that I knew needed to be part of my review, and is how I want to close out my review.

"My mother is gone. I feel quieter about her death here. In California all I wanted to do was yell. I'm grieving for her here in a way I couldn't before."

5/5

SYNOPSIS
With her new novel, Paris Was the Place (Knopf, 2013), Susan Conley offers a beautiful meditation on how much it matters to belong: to a family, to a country, to any one place, and how this belonging can mean the difference in our survival. Novelist Richard Russo calls Paris Was the Place, “by turns achingly beautiful and brutally unjust, as vividly rendered as its characters, whose joys and struggles we embrace as our own.”

When Willie Pears begins teaching at a center for immigrant girls in Paris all hoping for French asylum, the lines between teaching and mothering quickly begin to blur. Willie has fled to Paris to create a new family, and she soon falls for Macon, a passionate French lawyer. Gita, a young girl at the detention center, becomes determined to escape her circumstances, no matter the cost. And just as Willie is faced with a decision that could have dire consequences for Macon and the future of the center, her brother is taken with a serious, as-yet-unnamed illness. The writer Ayelet Waldman calls Paris Was the Place “a gorgeous love story and a wise, intimate journal of dislocation that examines how far we’ll go for the people we love most.” Named on the Indie Next List for August 2013 and on the Slate Summer Reading List, this is a story that reaffirms the ties that bind us to one another.

Author bio
Susan Conley is a writer and teacher. Her memoir, The Foremost Good Fortune (Knopf 2011) (My review is here.), chronicles her family’s experiences in modern China as well as her journey through breast cancer. The Oprah Magazine listed it as a Top Ten Pick, Slate Magazine chose it as "Book of the Week," and The Washington Post called it "a beautiful book about China and cancer and how to be an authentic, courageous human being." Excerpts from the memoir have been published in The New York Times Magazine and The Daily Beast.

Susan’s writing has also appeared in The Paris Review, The Harvard Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Gettysburg Review, The North American Review, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. A native of Maine, she earned her B.A. from Middlebury College and her M.F.A. in creative writing from San Diego State University. After teaching poetry and literature at Emerson College in Boston, Susan returned to Portland, where she cofounded and served as executive director of The Telling Room, a nonprofit creative writing center. She currently teaches at The Telling Room and at the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA Program.

Disclosure: I was provided this book through France Book Tours. All opinions expressed are my own

Monday, October 28, 2013

Yes, I may be a few days late posting my daily photos, but they've arrived!

October 18, 2013 - 291/365: I've never really been one for burning scented candles, but decided to jump on the bandwagon. And while it's still rare to find them burning most days, I'm at least having a bit of fun with it.

October 19, 2013 - 292/365: Dressed for the LSU/Ole Miss game, which unfortunately wound up being our second loss of the season.

October 20, 2013 - 293/365: I had my birthday lunch with my in-laws this week. After loving our first trip to Another Broken Egg Cafe I've been wanting to go back and try something different. This time I went with a Chez B's omelette which again was delicious.

October 21, 2013 - 294/365: First off I'm apologizing for this awful cell phone photo, but when you need a photo each day and only one was taken you have to make do. Plus I wanted to document my first trip to Lucy's Retired Surfer's Bar & Restaurant. I've been wanting to try this place for years, even since I saw their chef at the Red Stick Farmer's Market with my parents, but sadly it didn't live up to expectations. I had their fish tacos, and while they probably are the best ones I've found in Louisiana, they aren't as good as the ones I'm used to in Southern California.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Every month Mailbox Monday moves to a new host. Which means since tomorrow is the last Monday of October, for the last time this month, we're linking up at Book Dragon's Lair to share the books we've picked up recently.

Borrowed from a FriendTriangles by Ellen Hopkins
I believe the exact words of the friend who lent this to me were, "I can't decide if I love it or hate it." Definitely a summary that piques your interest right? It's written in verse which is always fun, and I have heard that it's less risque than the cover makes it out to be. So we'll see if I'm less conflicted with this.

What did you find in your mailbox this week? And what's the last book you read where you really weren't sure how you felt about it?

Also, I'm currently participating in Dara's giveaway! I'm giving away ad space as well as my ARC of The Apple Orchard. Plus there's several other items you'd win from the other bloggers! Please use the rafflecopter giveaway below to enter, and be sure to comment on this post for that extra entry.a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, October 25, 2013

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg
Published: March 11, 2013
I feel like this book has been everywhere lately, although given the response on my Mailbox Monday post, maybe that isn't actually the case. I've heard some great things about this book, but maybe as expected with a book this big, a lot of backlash too, which made me was curious how I'd feel.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with this. It's funny because a lot of it feels like common sense, except it's still something I hadn't actually though of that specific way. Everything seems to click, to the point where you wonder why you hadn't told yourself that first.

If I had any complaint about this book it's how much it made me think. By that I mean I'd read a section and think how well this related to my life currently, and keep thinking about how I could apply her advice and what changes I would make. Except I'd realize that through all this thinking I had continued to read 3 more pages and had no idea what I was actually reading. But honestly, if the biggest complaint is that it starts you thinking, is that the worst to have?

I think this book has a message that matters, that women should be able to succeed in the workplace if they want to, but they should also be able to succeed if they decide to stay at home instead. Or instead that men should have that same choice and be supported, and that we haven't truly reached equality among genders until things are actually equal. But as I wrote in a reply to a comment, it may not be a life changing book, but for me, where I am in my life right now, it definitely gave me a lot to think about.

4.5/5

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win a copy of The Hourglass by Sharon Struth!

Thursday, October 24, 2013

One tradition that we knew we would definitely do were the bouquet and garter tosses. I know that some people hate them because they single people out, or that they feel it's antiquated. But for us, it seemed like something fun to do, so they were definitely in.

For the bouquet toss, we went the somewhat cliched way and used Beyonce's "Single Ladies" as our song. Yes, it may be a little over done. But that's because it's such a perfect fit.

As for the song for the garter toss, I went with one of the boy's favorites, "Pride and Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan.

You can probably tell the boy was very focused taking off my garter. Although that's probably because he was trying to avoid my feet, which unfortunately you can see in the picture, and I'll ask you to forget immediately.

Funny enough, my bridesmaid who caught the bouquet, her date was the one who also the garter. And while it wasn't intentional, there weren't a lot of people fighting for it. I do remember thinking that the reception felt empty during the tosses and wondering how so many people had left without us noticing. And while people had started leaving at this time, I later learned that a group of people had gone on a tour of the plantation home and returned to the reception later on.

What are your thoughts on bouquet tosses? Have you every been lucky enough to catch one?

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Hourglass by Sharon Struth
Published: July 19, 2013 by Etopia Press
I feel like I've been in such a reading rut lately, where I'm just not enjoying the books I've picked up. Thankfully this was just the book I needed to escape! Part romance novel, part mystery, it's the type of book you start reading and while feels like only minutes later you're already halfway through.

Parts of it remind me of The Pilot's Wife or The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D., where after a person's death you wonder how well you really knew them. But unlike those two where that was the main point of the book, here that story line is only part of what you're reading.

This may not be the type of book that has you thinking about it after you're finished, but it is one where you'll really enjoy the experience. You want the couple to be successful, and you want to know the end of the mystery, and those two together make it hard to put down.

4/5

Hopefully this has you intrigued and you want your own copy. And if so, it's your lucky day because I have a copy of giveaway!

5. While cooling, mix together your sugar, butter, and milk. Once "frosting-like," incorporate in cinnamon and nutmeg until mixed through.

6. Once cooled, frost onto cake. (It will be thick and feel almost impossible to get perfect, but you can't deny that the frosting looks pretty awesome in the photos.)

I think this cake had an awesome flavor, but if there's any complaint it's that it's almost too moist. At times it felt a little bit more like pumpkin pie than an actual bundt cake. But I think the quicker you eat it after it's finished the less of an issue it'll be, and what's better than an excuse to eat cake quicker?

Monday, October 21, 2013

Carrie
I never saw the original Carrie, nor have I read the book. (Although I did see the sequel Carrie 2 back in high school if that counts for something.) But even so, it would have been pretty impossible to go into this not knowing the story. I think the lack of fear of the unexpected is part of the reason I wanted to see the movie. I don't normally see scary movies, but since I knew what was coming how scary could it be?

In a lot of ways, that though played out, because it really wasn't that scary. Instead though, the scariest parts for me were all the girl vs. girl cruelty. That was the hardest part for me to watch, and was in a lot of ways heartbreaking.

Chloe Grace Moretz was awesome in this, and actually the main reason I wanted to see this. So far I've loved everything she's been in, And while I know I said this in my review of Kick Ass 2, I can't wait to see what else is to come from her.

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists. Mailbox Monday travels to a new host each month and for the month of October our host is Book Dragon's Lair.

PurchasedLean In by Sheryl Sandberg
I'm sure you've probably heard of this one before, but if not... where have you been? It's written by COO of Facebook and is somewhat of a self-help/memoir/career advice/feminist manifesto all rolled into one. I'm about halfway through with it already, and am really enjoying myself. It's our book club pick this month, and already I know we're going to have a ton of things to say about it.

For Review from Virtual Author Book ToursHead Games Erika Rummel
This takes place in Argentina in 1979, and I believe is part mystery part romance. I'm really not too sure what this one's about, but I guess I'll be finding out soon.

Saturday, October 19, 2013

October 12, 2013 - 285/365: Last week the boy played in a baseball tournament at Zephyr Field, which is the minor league stadium in New Orleans. It was kind of crazy being in high a huge stadium with so few people, but was a lot of fun.

October 13, 2013 - 286/365: This is feta, olive, and roasted red pepper pizza. Maybe not a normal choice, but basically my favorite way to order pizza.

October 14, 2013 - 287/365: I'm not normally a fan of Cliff bars, but this was delicious. Although I think the pumpkin pie version I had the week before was even better.

October 15, 2013 - 288/365: I feel like such a little kid getting excited over holiday toy catalogs coming in the mail. I used to adore the HearthSong catalog growing up and am a little obsessed with the idea that I've made it onto their mailing list.